Marc Parrett – Puppeteer

30th May 2013

Marc Parrett has made thousands of puppets in his career, from aliens to whales, and has operated up to five at a time in his shows, bringing life, thought and emotion to the inanimate through the dexterity of his fingers.

Hugo Burnham – Shipwright & Rigger

Hugo Burnham worked on both the Cutty Sark (rather obviously not in 1869) and the Golden Hind, which he sailed back to England across the Atlantic. He has immensely strong hands, and a rather impressive moustache.

Alistair McGowan – Impressionist

21st May 2013

Alistair McGowan sat on a park bench in Golden Square under a very brooding sky while I snapped away at his expressive hands. He’s simply bursting with the voices of everyone you can imagine, and despite being in the middle of a gruelling UK tour kept slipping into different people as we chatted. A delightful few minutes in an otherwise grey day.

Peter Layton – Glassblower

15th May 2013

Had a wonderful time at London Glassblowing in Bermondsey with Peter Layton and his very helpful assistants. This isn’t the shot of course (very few of the blog pics are the one’s I’ll be using in the book and for the exhibition), but we tried a few ideas and I’m very pleased with the final result. Peter’s a great artist and a charming man, quite a rare combination. If you’re ever in that part of town you really should drop in, there’s some amazing work on display and you can sit and watch beautiful glass being blown to your heart’s content, it’s quite mesmerising.

Nick Mason – Drummer

When it comes to iconic drummers, Nick Mason from Pink Floyd is up there with the best. We sat on his fire escape while I prayed for some light to trickle through the brooding cloud, and he clutched his trademark drumsticks.

Peter Alliss – Golfer

14th May 2013

I felt like the rain man today, but not in a Dustin Hoffman way. Gloomy and pouring down, but managed to keep the ever amiable Peter Alliss dry in his garage while I got wet outside. His grip is textbook stuff, and an accident when young means that one of his thumbs is shorter than the other, so tucking it into the perfect spot is a doddle.

Anna Croft – 777 Captain

To say that Anna Croft is stoic would be an understatement. I wanted to have a bit of fun with the photo, but she needed to be lying on her back, on her garden table with her arms up, and it was raining. She didn’t bat an eyelid. Completely unfazed and calm as a cucumber, which is probably one of the reasons why she’s so good at flying a 250 ton plane with up to 550 passengers half way round the world.

Steve Knightley, Phil Beer & Miranda Sykes – Show of Hands

8th May 2013

I met up with Steve Knightley, Phil Beer and Miranda Sykes from the folk band ‘Show of Hands’ at the Marine Theatre in Lyme Regis just before their gig. It seemed like a natural fit to add the band to the collection considering we share the same name. Steve came up with the idea of folding their hands in together to show how it’s the combination of the three of them that make the distinctive Show of Hands sound.

Jason Flemyng on the set of Enemy of Man. Canon 5D MKIII 70-200.

1st May 2013

Spent the day shooting stills on the set of Instruments of Darkness, which was a chapter for the film Enemy of Man directed by Vincent Regan. This one is of Jason Flemyng letting rip in a fight sequence, all swords, clashing armour and fire, very dramatic. I also got some nice shots of Charles Dance and Rupert Grint (in the People section). Good day, nice people and rather fun.